Plaintive emails and rampant rumors about Claremont McKenna College’s very own housing crisis leave many students picturing hundred of homeless CMC’ers posting up in tents on Green Beach. Ever since the Dean of Students office asked students to volunteer to either move off-campus or create triples out of double rooms, the buzz on campus seems to revolve around who is willing to make sacrifices for returning CMC’ers – and most students are less than enthusiastic. Katie Browning, a junior studying abroad in Chile, puts the problem in terms we can all understand with what she calls “The Pong Dilemma.” She explains, “Everyone loves the game and wants to play, but there are never enough tables for everyone to show off their bounce shots at once! Someone’s gotta be kicked out and go fill out the slap cup team.” The slap cup team may be less glamorous – but what if skipping out on those glorious bounce shots saved you $400? It appears the question now is, who’s going to volunteer to join the slap cup team?

A standard double in North Quad

Unbeknownst to most students, the housing situation at CMC is as intricate and impossible to predict as a 3-D puzzle with a thousand pieces. Among the contributing factors to the problem are the number of students who study abroad or off-campus in D.C., the number of students taking/returning from a leave of absence, those that are suspended, transfer in, or drop out of/extend their study abroad experience. Additionally, the financial aid CMC offers has fewer students choosing to transfer out of CMC. Kristen Mallory, the director of the Off-Campus Study office, is one of the lucky administrators in charge of juggling all these students and figures. She estimates that roughly 10-20 students will be without beds on campus but will not know for sure until January when all these factors play out.

Though Dean Eric Vos declined to be interviewed until the issue has settled down, it is clear that the housing dilemma continues, in part, because many students are reluctant to move into triples or find housing off-campus. Freshman Lauren Henderson believes the Deans’ request is unreasonable, stating, “There might be enough room for an extra bed, but definitely not enough room for another person’s stuff.” Students in singles are just as resistant to the idea of losing their coveted spots. Even students who look at the situation objectively, like freshman Amelia Evrigenis, worry that there are too many variables. Evrigenis offers “I thought that it might be a good opportunity to live in a triple, but I didn’t know how my roommate would feel about it, who could move in, or if I’d really want to commit to that.” As an LA native currently abroad in China, Priscilla Hsu offers “if worst came to worst I could attempt to commute from home” but explains that solutions like this one are more logistically difficult (and costly) than living at CMC.  It seems students and administration alike are scrambling to find a favorable solution.

Berger Hall holds 32 singles

From on-campus resources, financial difficulties, to missing out on part of the college experience, off-campus students shared their worries about returning without housing. Hsu explains that the issue is of great financial importance.  She offered that her decision to live on- or off-campus would be contingent on the meal plan and financial aid benefits and that she would be “really upset” if she didn’t have on-campus housing. Quinn Chasan, a junior spending his semester in Washington D.C., also vehemently professed his desire to remain on-campus. He recognizes the benefits of living inside the CMC bubble, “I’ve lived on my own for the past 6 months here in DC…So, no, I want to have all of the amenities that come with dorm life.” Browning appeals to her fellow students saying, “If there wasn’t a place for me on campus I would feel like I was missing out…the experiences you remember the most and that stay with you for the longest are those that happen at 3 in the morning on a Tuesday night when you really should be in bed.”

 CMC’ers on-campus and off-campus alike voiced their concerns over the way the situation was handled.  Browning explains that despite the fact that CMC doesn’t necessarily guarantee housing, “it almost seems like they do” since about 97% of students live on campus according to CMC’s Residential Life webpage. The number of students willing to bite the bullet–or join the proverbial slap-cup team–and move off-campus or into a triple is in fact dwindling, but this is no new problem. This year, Scripps College (as CMC has done in the past) will rent out a floor of one of Pomona’s dorms and house 20+ students on their campus. CMC almost followed suit until a student suggested allowing students to move off campus. This message was incorrectly conveyed to the student body at large and, voilà, the rumors began that the DOS office was kicking students out of their rooms and forcing them into bad housing situations.

Dean Eric's most recent email to students

Mallory explains her office’s sticky situation stating, “I know everyone wants to study abroad with their friends, or be an RA, or have an internship. I know all these reasons yet something has to give. So what do I do?” Though many students are eager to offer criticism, few CMC’ers are willing to offer viable solutions. Regardless, almost all students interviewed agreed that they would have appreciated a warning further in advance. Freshman David Leathers agrees there is simply not enough time and “finals and the holidays are going to dominate student’s minds [more than] a $410 financial incentive.” Browning offers a humorous alternative to the housing hubbub, calling out to her fellow students, “Is anyone down for Occupy Pomona’s New Dorms?” even offering, “I’ll help make the signs.”

 If this year constitutes housing mayhem, housing pandemonium may break out next year as well.  Mallory reports that the off-campus survey she sent out asking who was interested in studying abroad pulled in responses from 170 students who plan on studying abroad in the Fall and 77 who plan on going abroad the Spring term.  Mallory explains that the problem is not the Dean of Students Office, the Off-Campus Study Office, or the students themselves.  The real obstacle is that students enjoy living on campus so much that fewer in recent years have wanted to leave.  The problem, she states, “It’s no one’s fault.  It’s that people love CMC.  And that’s a good problem to have.” This housing crisis is up to you, CMC students, to fix.  If you truly have stag pride and CMC love, approach your administration with your own solution.

I hope these were not the “best” four years of our lives, but they may have been the most fun. You have to believe life gets better, but nothing will beat free Snack at 10:30 PM every school night. I’ll never forget the first time I went to snack. Prospie Josh thought he had floated himself into heaven. And it wasn’t even mozzarella sticks night. This was back when the fro-yo machine was always on and Gavin ruled the World Wok. I’ll miss Collins.

It’s one thing to say you will “miss” college and another to wake up Sunday morning after graduation, have to move out of your apartment, and start picking health insurance. I don’t remember high school graduation being this bittersweet, but that’s probably because I knew life would get much, much better in college. For many of us, the future is completely unpredictable.

I had a lot of ideas about what to write for a “Goodbye from the Class of 2010″ post. It’s my last written assignment for college, so there is a lot of pressure to not disgrace myself or give the anonymous commenters any reason to go on some crazy tangent. Speaking of which, someone should write a thesis about CMCForum.com’s anonymous-optional comment section. “Thesis ideas are everywhere.” Tangential advice: Don’t let anyone tell you your thesis is “more than just a paper.” It is just another paper.

I was going to work with friends to release a music video, That’s So North Quad, to chronicle the end of the college era. At least that’s what I tell people it would have been about. But our expectations were too high. We had a great script, but we didn’t write it down. No evidence. It would have been to the tune of a Broken Bells song remix. Or this song.

I was going to plan a senior prank, but the prospect of going to white collar prison scared me. I don’t believe they actually let you wear (and they definitely don’t let you pop) white collars in those places.

I was going to write a number of Forum posts (see list below) and I was going to compile “The Class of 2010′s Guide to CMC.” It would have come with a free CD-ROM version of That’s So North Quad.

I really wanted to make sure I passed down all the knowledge and information I had for the Class of 2014, but there’s only so much you can put into words. Too bad I gave up on CMCPedia.com. Maybe someone can get that going again?

I was going to write something like David Nahmias’ (CMC ’10) goodbye letter but took issue with the suggestion that I should pick up my own toys. Why don’t we just attach a claw to the gigantic Kravis Center crane and use that to solve the problem? Yeah, that would probably solve the toy litter problem, David.

On a more serious note, I’m a little concerned about how things at CMC are going to change in the future. For one thing, CMC is going to get a lot, lot richer. With money comes responsibility. Responsibility is a downer. As I wrote that sentence, a man walking with a baby in a stroller passed by our senior week beach house in Mission Beach. As he glanced at us, he noticed girls in bikinis, a keg, loud music, and people having a great time on our front porch. He did not look happy to have “responsibilities.”

Not sure what the future will bring, but John Faranda will keep us updated. And the Siegel Swimming Pool (where Phillips Hall currently sits) will come with a large trampoline.

I was going to write a goodbye article about graduating, life, etc. I had some thoughts about Claremont Confessions, CMC’s Dean of Students’ office, the RA system, and a multi-paragraph rant about the Admissions Office. But it doesn’t matter anymore. We’re finished with college. Time to move on.

We’ll miss you, CMC.

At the risk of breaking up the rhythm of this shoddily-written, nonsensical, unstructured goodbye post, I’ll divide the rest of this post into “Top Five Regrets” and “What I’ve Learned.”

Top Five Regrets

1. Not Coming to CMC Until Sophomore Year

Although my situation was unique, I feel bad for anyone who misses freshman year at CMC. Transferring to CMC as a sophomore (or worse, junior) puts you at an immeasurable disadvantage to the rest of the school.

2. Not Partying More

I went to Slippery When Wet at Mudd for the first time this semester. I went to my first Pitzer party a few weeks ago. I have never played Tuesday Night Beirut. I guess I fooled myself into thinking partying more would hurt my academic career at CMC. It’s just not true — nobody looks back at CMC and regrets not studying more.

3. Not Creating More Stuff

I started a website called Claremont Confessions last year. The name wasn’t my idea, but I take responsibility for the damage that ensued. I won’t go into details here, but you can see the Facebook group someone started in protest here and read a bit more about it here and here. What I regret is shutting down the site instead of using it as a springboard to launch a site that actually did something to bring the 5Cs together for more than gossip.

Another example is this website (cmcforum.com). I revived the site from its print deathbed my sophomore year, but didn’t act on or complete a lot of ideas for additional features for various reasons (couldn’t figure out how to implement it, would have taken up too much time, etc.). It was also impossible finding anyone willing to help. Thankfully, The Forum has gotten to the point where finding competent people to help, write, and run the site isn’t a major problem. I hope the site gets stronger, but as we’ve seen in the past and with any organization, one year of bad leadership could ruin it all. It might be a good idea to put some institutional controls in place for the future.

4. Drafts

Over the past couple years I’ve started drafts of articles I never published on this site. I regret not finishing more. Some were just a few sentences, most were longer. Here are some of my favorite unfinished drafts:

• “Top 10 CMC Moments in the Past Four Years”
• “What I’ve Learned About CMC’s “Problems”
• “Things I Thought I Was Promised When I Came to CMC”
• “Honnold Mudd in 2020″
• “Things I Didn’t Know About CMC”
• “Rants from a Nostalgic Senior, Part I”
• “How to Be a Good Professor at CMC”
• “Stop Whining, CMC”
• “Student Health Services Is Unhealthy”
• “The Case for the Block Plan at CMC”
• “You know it was a long night when…”
• “Computer Science Should Be Mandatory”
• “RDS Advertises on Facebook? Seriously?”
• “Ferris Wheel in North Quad”

5. Not Figuring Out What I’m Interested In

I am an economics major. I’m not interested in academia. I have a job next year in which the major appeal is having no specific focus or industry. I have interests, but I don’t have a calling yet.

What I’ve Learned

A few random thoughts:

• I agree with Patrick — leisure time in college is too valuable to spend too much of it studying. If you are at the very top of your class, I think you are doing something wrong. Or a Lit major. (That was a joke, Lit majors.)
• It’s strange that only a small number of students are allowed to e-mail the entire student body and are given no guidelines about what is or is not acceptable use.
• John Faranda and much of the Development Office are very good at their job; the Public Affairs office is not. Why don’t we have any CMC alumni working in the Public Affairs office? I bet their incentive would far exceed their salary.
• If you stop worrying about putting any information about yourself, your thoughts, etc. on the internet and start making sure that what you’re putting on the internet isn’t really stupid, you’ll be fine.
• As we’ve seen in the past few years, the print media is an industry prone to consolidation. As a microcosm, the Port Side, The Forum, and Claremont Independent struggle because our campus is too small to support three major newspapers.
• An unintentional offspring of CMC moving to Google for e-mail has been the widespread popularity of communicating through GChat. It could be improved.
• Our education system is incredibly inefficient. We spent 22 years learning what we could learn in far fewer.